The Ensign Group, Inc.

The Ensign Group, Inc. operates a network of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across multiple states. While its primary business is human healthcare, the company has been repeatedly implicated in systemic failures of care that extend to animal welfare. Undercover investigations and whistleblower reports have documented instances where residents’ companion animals were neglected or harmed due to the same operational deficiencies that led to human patient neglect, including inadequate staffing and failure to follow basic care protocols.

These incidents are part of a broader pattern of regulatory non-compliance. In September 2025, Ensign paid over $47 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging the company provided medically unnecessary rehabilitation therapy and engaged in illegal kickbacks. The settlement also resolved allegations that Ensign violated a prior Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services. This history of repeated violations indicates a corporate culture where systemic oversight failures can impact all dependents within a facility, including animals in residents’ care.